And finally, what is your husband’s occupation?’
Now on the face of it this is a question that wouldn't normally be a problem for a prospective wife to answer, particularly considering that at this point in time my fiancé and I had been together for 11 years and I had been in my chosen occupation for the last seven of them... ‘Erm’ [long silence] ‘Computer Guy?’ she finally blurted out conscious that the gaze of the registrar for births, marriages and deaths had turned from bored indifference to mild suspicion. ‘I'm afraid I’ll need a little more’ intoned the lady with the Grey hair and the surprisingly on trend geek-chic spectacles.’ Erm… Well…. he does…. SAP?’ and then with a voice that sounded suspiciously like a whimper ‘MM and PP?’
‘If she had asked me to explain what that meant I would have been screwed and you would still be single’ she later confided. ‘Surely you know what I do for a living’ I said, my voice betraying the hurt that had been inspired during the gibe retelling of her pre wedding visit to the registrar. ‘God no’ she replied oblivious to the dent that my professional pride had just taken ‘I did try to take an interest when you first started but it sounded so bloody confusing and when I asked your parents they just said ‘who cares at least he’s got a job’….
Fast forward several years and after adding two daughters (5 and nearly 1) to our family (who are equally vague regarding the question of what Daddy does for a living) and having become the Principle Architect for a specialist SAP consultancy it is apparent that confusion still permeates many things SAP. Also and certainly more disquieting is the simple fact that this confusion is by no means limited to either members of my immediate family nor other non-affiliates of the SAP fraternity. No, in my experience even some of the most seasoned SAP professionals I’ve met still regularly display confusion and befuddlement over certain SAP terminologies or offerings.
Hence the reason for this blog. In the coming weeks and months I will be attempting to clear up some of this confusion by highlighting a ‘bite size’ area of SAP (or something associated with SAP), be it a module, a new offering such as HANA or a acquisition such as Ariba and endeavouring to explain it in plain and simple language. My ambition is certainly not a lofty one, it is merely to try and make each blog free from confusion, spin and jargon while attempting to present it into language that even a 5 year old (as long as Sponge Bob Square Pants isn't on TV to distract her) can understand.
Now here is the caveat - I might get things wrong and you might disagree with my opinions and if that's the case comment and you can help clarify my understanding and by extension the understanding of many people to whom SAP can seem like an impenetrable mystery.
